Canalside Crane

This is one of a number of canalside cranes that are maintained but have no obvious purpose, or so I thought when I blipped a different one previously. At the time I said I would blip another one if I found out what their intended purpose is and so here is the other one.

These cranes are part of the canal infrastructure although they are a recent addition, having been added during the Second World War. At that time the canals were still used for moving goods and there was a concern that the canals were relatively easy targets for bombers. These cranes were installed at intervals along the canal network and had the canal been bombed the cranes would have been used to lower wooden barriers into the canal, on either side of the damage, to prevent the entire canal draining away. Two parts of such a barrier can be seen just beyond the crane. After the war they fell into a state of disrepair as did many canals.

More recently the increase in leisure traffic caused maintenance of the canals to be increased and with it the restoration of these cranes.


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